So it's very cold in New York City this week, but I hope that won't prevent you from joining me on Wednesday night in Soho at McNally Jackson (7pm - 8pm), where I'll be doing a short reading (really) followed by a slightly longer Q&A hosted by Sasha Frere-Jones, followed by you buying tons of books (and not just mine, although that would be nice) from McNally J and then maybe everyone going out for a drink or something. Click through for details on location location location. For those of you who live outside of New York City, I'm still working on lining up a few things for later this spring, and will keep you posted.
In other book-related news, there's now a Wikipedia page for the The Metropolis Case. A great review was printed in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and here's a sample: "For this is a tale that screams for operatic patience while offering a friendly hand so that even those of us not acclimated to this art form can comfortably join in the experience. And as the last chapter closes we recognize that this novel deserves nothing less than a standing ovation for a virtuoso performance." Elsewhere, I answered a question about which opera is a good one for beginners (not that I'm such an expert or anything, but you get the idea).
Finally, I wanted to post an excerpt of a Goodreads review by a guy named Rick Webb, which was extra-awesome because he talked about how much he appreciated the use of the music of 'our generation' in the book, which was really nice to hear, because as much as I love the operatic stuff in the book, I also wanted to showcase many of the rock bands I've loved over the years. So from Rick Webb: "I'm also super excited that my generation's music is starting to make its way into great literature...So it was refreshing to have a book where there was a major emotional scene in the film that took place to a 1992 My Bloody Valentine gig. It was exciting to have chapters named after Spacemen 3 albums...It was exciting to have Ride mentioned. The Jesus and Mary Chain....Oh, and to get to the end, and see that the book was written by Matthew Gallaway - I knew I had recognized the name, but couldn't place it, until I got to the very last word of the author bio at the end, and discovered he was in Saturnine, who I really loved. I am listening to Your Maps right now. I missed these guys. Nice."
So that's it for now. Thanks to everyone who left reviews on Amazon or Goodreads or elsewhere (all of which really helps the 'profile' of the book) or just e-mailed me to let me know they've read and enjoyed (or in a few cases, didn't enjoy). I'll see (some of) you on Wednesday! xoxo MG
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01/17/2011
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A RADICAL NEW MYTH ABOUT SEX, FAITH, AND THOSE OF US WHO WILL NEVER DIE
A young boy wanders into the woods of Harlem and witnesses the abduction of his sister by a glowing creature. Forty years later, now working as a New York City homicide detective, Gus is assigned to a case in which he unexpectedly succumbs to a vision that Helen is still alive. To find her, he embarks on an uorthodox investigation that leads to an ancient civilization of gods and the people determined to bring them back.
In this colossal new novel from the author of The Metropolis Case, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice collides with a new religion founded by three corporate office workers, creating something beautiful, illogical, and overwhelming. Part sex manifesto, part religious text, part Manhattan noir—with a dose of deadly serious, internet inspired satire—#gods is a sprawling inquest into the nature of faith and resistance in the modern world. With each turn of the page, #gods will leave you increasingly reborn.
Praise for #gods
“#gods is a mystery, an excavation of myths, an index of modern life, a gay coming-of-age story, an office satire, a lyrical fever dream, a conspiracy. One of the most ambitious novels in recent memory—and a wild, possibly transformative addition to the canon of gay literature—it contains multitudes, and seethes with brilliance.” —Mark Doten, author of The Infernal
“Matthew Gallaway’s #gods is a novel so brilliant, so funny, so full of strange and marvelous things, I couldn’t stop writing OMG WTF I <3 THIS SO MUCH in its margins. It’s rare to find a novel that so dazzlingly reinvigorates age-old meditations on faith and f&!*ing, art and eros. Luminous, enterprising, and sublimely cheeky, #gods tells the story, the myth, the dream of the human soul in all its glorious complexity.” —Suzanne Morrison, author of Yoga Bitch
“Matthew Gallaway’s storytelling manages to be both dreamy and serious; lean and luxurious. His words carry an incantatory power of mythic storytelling where beauty and savagery wrap around each other like bright threads in a gorgeous tapestry.” —Natasha Vargas-Cooper, author of Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America
“If the ancient gods were just like us, only more so, then the same could be said for this strange, wonderful book, in which the mundane sorrows and small triumphs of very ordinary lives glow ever so slightly around the edges, sometimes quite literally. At once an oddly romantic send-up of dead-end office culture and an offbeat supernatural procedural, #gods is terrifically weird, melancholy, sexy, and charming.” —Jacob Bacharach, author of The Bend of the World
'It’s to the credit of Matthew Gallaway’s enchanting, often funny first novel that it doesn’t require a corresponding degree of obsession from readers, but may leave them similarly transported: the book is so well written — there’s hardly a lazy sentence here — and filled with such memorable lead and supporting players that it quickly absorbs you into its worlds.'
-- The New York Times
Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine
Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.
Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past
Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.
Video: The Chaos Detective
The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.
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